Naomi's Mistake
by StudentNurseSkinsFan
Summary: Naomi is unwell, and struggling to keep pretending everything's fine. As her depression starts to take over, she finds comfort from an old friend. However, this friendship may do her more harm than good. Emily is left feeling lost and alone as Naomi shuts her out. Would really appreciate any feedback, please help me to improve!
1. Chapter 1

**Naomi**

 _I can feel my heart racing, can feel the blood beat in my own ears. Wondering if the girl lying next to me feels the same, I allow my fingers to skate across her chest, gently. The presence of the delicate body next to mine is something that has pre-occupied my thoughts for a long time. The reality is somewhat different to how I'd imagined; intimidating, too real. Am I scared? I don't know. I'm alive, something I haven't really been for as long as I can remember. Lying next to her fills my bleak, numb existence with with exhilaration._

 _In the past I've pierced my skin to allow myself to feel something, anything. Seeing the blood flow reminded me that I was still there, still surviving. Now this is my release._

 _I stroke the dark flowing hair away from the beautiful face beside me. Our eyes meet. It's as though I am drowning in hers. I'm taken off guard, that this girl who I know to be so cold, so strong; is now vulnerable and exposed. If she is as anxious as I am at this moment, she doesn't show it._

 _Effy smiles at me slowly. She moves steadily, always so sure. Leaning in closer, my face flushes as her soft hands find their way to my waist, pausing there as her lips touch mine. I feel a sudden change, the atmosphere heavy with anticipation. I can no longer hold myself back…_

It's been six months today since I first thought about killing myself. It's hard to describe how I've been feeling, because most of the time I feel nothing at all. Just an emptiness, a dull ache that came seemingly from nowhere and smothered me until I stopped trying to fight it, until I let it take over.

At first, people noticed. They were worried sick. Okay, not everyone was as concerned. Many people just slowly drifted out of my life. Not intentionally, but because we all have lives and we're all busy. They moved on. But the people who stayed by me: Emily, and more surprisingly, Katie, noticed a change in me. They said I had become withdrawn, and not like myself. They tried to make me get help at first. I wouldn't go to the doctors, and this worried them more. But as time went on, it got so easy to hide it and pretend I was better.

I would stay awake all night, trapped in my own thoughts. Sometimes I would sob silently, uncontrollably, for no reason other than that I felt completely hopeless and lost. But I would get up in the morning. I would wash my face, paint on a smile, kiss Emily goodbye and go to work. It got so easy to put on this act that I almost forgot I was pretending after a while.

Little did Emily know though; I wasn't going to work. I lost my job weeks ago, when I stopped turning up. Even when I bothered to turn go, I was usually in a bad way from the night before. So I got fired. I didn't care, it was a relief to not have to drag myself into that place day in day out and work mindlessly for shit wages. So I have my routine. I get up, kiss Emily goodbye and I go to see Effy.

Sometimes the only way to stay alive is damage yourself. To fuck your life up, to get off your tits, anything to make you feel alive, instead of watching everything drift past you. I'm not much of a drinker anymore, but I like to relax and have a smoke, or sometimes a pill or two to have a good time. All my friends did it when we were in college, the only difference I guess is that they grew out of it. I grew into it. That's where being friends with Effy came in handy.

 **Emily**

 _I remember the first time we slept together with the lights on. I was shy at first. We hadn't been together for very long, only a couple of months or so. Naomi was the first girl I ever made love to, and I didn't feel comfortable with being on full display. She never made me feel pressured into doing anything I wasn't at ease with._

 _Her eyes closed as I traced my lips across her skin, landing gentle kisses from her jawline down to her collarbone._

" _Em!" She laughed, as I brushed past the sensitive spot on her neck, making her jump. I smiled at her and felt her relax beneath me as I moved further down her body, my hands brushing against her soft breasts. I could feel the subtle change in her breathing, could see her chest rising and falling more quickly as I touched her. As I moved down past her stomach, I heard her start to moan softly._

 _I loved being so close to her, making her feel like this. As I looked up at her face, I watched her eyes close tighter and her lips move apart as she gasped for breath. I felt her tense, as she said my name softly. Then seconds later she relaxed, breathless, smiling at me. I never realized how many times I had missed out on this special moment because of my own insecurity. I felt closer to her than I had ever been to anyone._

 _And now she could be fucking someone else._

 _Someone else could be having our private moments. Someone else could be seeing her face as they made her come. The thought of it makes me sick to my stomach, so much so that I feel a wave of nausea flood over me. Shaking, I run to the bathroom and double over, letting the tears run down my face as I let it all out._

 _I look in the mirror once I'm done. I'm a mess. Mascara everywhere, pale as a ghost and now I probably smell like puke. I don't blame her for going off me._

I want to scream. She's late home _again_ ,and no prizes for guessing why. She's with her.

I like to think of myself as a forgiving person. But maybe the fact that Naomi was the one who was so worried about our relationship, so insecure about the fact that I could meet someone better, and now she's doing it to me is the fact that I feel like I'm going insane. I have always said that cheating isn't the worst thing you can do in a relationship. I stand by this. People make mistakes, and get caught up in moments of lust. While its heart breaking and humiliating for the person being lied to, it doesn't have to mean the end of a relationship. Love is deeper than physical attraction. But when I think of all these months I've spent trying to reassure her that I'm crazy about her, that my feelings won't ever change, that she's the most amazing beautiful woman ever to walk into my life... I realize it's all been for nothing.

Not that I blame her. Effy is stunning. When she walks into a room everyone stares at her. Everyone tries to talk to her. Her deep blue eyes, long dark hair, slim, pale frame don't sound like much to look at. But it's like she's ethereal, otherworldly. She has this sort of power over everyone. It disgusts me, it's like people become lapdogs the second they come across an attractive female. She doesn't seem to be bothered by all the attention she gets though. It's almost as if she doesn't even notice. Although maybe that's an act that she's perfected over the years to draw people in further.

I look down at myself, and wish I had her figure. So slender, so light. I feel heavy, physically and emotionally. I am weighed down by it. There's nothing more exhausting than watching your life unravel right before your eyes and being unable to do anything to stop it. I can't help but wonder what would happen if I just dyed my hair, lost weight, became mysterious and reserved… Would I be like her? Would I be the one Naomi wanted more than anything else again?

I had made tea for us tonight. I thought we could sit down together properly like we used to, instead of grabbing something to eat separately because we never made time to do it together. It was probably cold by now. I could have saved it and put it in the fridge, but I want her to feel guilty when she gets in and realizes that I'd made the effort for her. What was the point though? You can't guilt someone into falling back in love with you.

I prepare myself for her embarrassingly lame excuses. She had to work late to help out, they were desperate. I've given up telling her that the world isn't going to end because a few people have to wait a bit longer for their over priced food to be served. I just go along with whatever she says. It's too painful to do anything else, and maybe I'm not ready to hear the truth.

I guess the worst thing is that it's not just sex. Until recently, I didn't think it was sex at all. It's much worse than that. I think my girlfriend has fallen in love with Effy.


	2. Chapter 2

Effy

I hear a loud knock at the door, as someone shouts my name, rudely awakening me from my daily ritual of sleeping in until midday.

I stumble out of bed, pulling my jeans on, leaving on the shirt that I've just slept in and hoping that whoever's at the door won't notice or care that I haven't showered or even brushed my teeth yet this morning.

"For Christ's sake, I'm coming." I mutter under my breath as I they bang on the door again.

My eyes water as I try to stifle a yawn whilst opening the door reluctantly. It takes me a couple of seconds to realize who's in front of me. Their lank, dirty blonde hair is scraped back into a messy pony tail, their pale face blotchy with tears. A far cry from the confident, happy, powerful girl I remember her being.

"Naomi… What are you doing here?" I ask, gently. I had barely seen her in the past few months, since she shacked up with Emily. I had guessed we had all kind of outgrown each other; we had slowly drifted more and more apart since we left school. And with Katie and I never really seeing eye to eye, things were awkward with everyone else, too.

"I just wanted someone to talk to…" She murmurs. Then as if she suddenly remembers why she's so upset, she reveals, "I've been sacked." And bursts into fresh tears.

I stand there, staring blankly. I never know what to do when people cry. I'm not cold hearted. I do care. It's just that I have my own problems to deal with; sometimes trying to help other people takes up emotional energy that I don't have. If that makes me selfish, then I don't really give a shit.

"Come in."

I take her through to the kitchen and we both sit down at the table. Naomi puts her head in her hands. I sit there stiffly. There's an uncomfortable silence, which I can cope with for no longer than a few seconds. I'm paranoid that we'll be interrupted by something we don't need to hear from my mum's room upstairs.

"Naomi… Is everything okay? What's going on?"

It takes me a while to get much sense out of her. She starts trying to make a sentence, but it keeps ending in, "I'm such a dick, I just fuck everything up." I wait patiently. Sometimes my silence can be a strong point. I'd rather sit there quietly and let things unravel naturally, than force them to come spilling out before they're ready. I'm vaguely aware that I still haven't brushed my teeth. I cover my mouth with my hand as I speak again.

"Why don't we go for a smoke?" I suggest. Naomi nods.

As we both sit on the doorstep of my house, sharing my last joint, I notice that Naomi has calmed down considerably. It could be the effects of what we're smoking, or maybe it's being in the company of someone who's just as much of a failure as she thinks she is. She looks down at the ground, deep in thought. She looks older than I remember, as if life has already taken its toll on her. She's still beautiful though, just in a different way. She seems smaller, softer than she used to be. I look away as she turns to face me.

"I'm not happy, Eff. I haven't been for a long time. I don't give a shit that I lost my job. I lost it because I stopped turning up. I stopped turning up because I stopped caring about the consequences, I just hated that place. And I have no friends. Nothing."

I frown. At least she has Emily. Emily, who loves her. Emily, her soulmate. It almost seems like she's just taking what she has for granted.

As if she can ready my thoughts, a look comes over her face. She hesitates., then looks me in the eye. "Emily and I haven't even had sex for the past four months."

I stutter. Okay, they had been together for over two years now. I know as well as the next person that the honeymoon period doesn't last forever. But four months? Jesus, my mum was getting it more than them. I shudder, shaking that thought from my mind. I remember being almost grossed out when Emily and Naomi first got together. They were all over each other like a rash. And now this…

"Okay." I say evenly. "So what are you going to do to change that? Have you tried talking to her about it?"

Naomi crosses her arms, avoiding my gaze.

"No. Yes. Kind of."

I wait impatiently for her to explain.

"She's tried to speak to me about it." She says, a single tear rolling down her face. "I'm the one with the problem."

I wonder what she could mean. Has she cheated on her, and caught an STD? I somehow doubt it. Erectile dysfunction? I guess that would be pretty impossible. What problems could lesbians have? I wonder, but think better of asking.

"Do you still fancy her?"

She nods, although she doesn't seem so sure.

Without thinking too much into it, I put my hand in hers. She feels clammy; sweaty and cold at the same time. We sit there together for a while, without needing to speak. I've never been a big one for physical contact, especially with other girls. But I wanted to make a connection, to sow Naomi that I understood her without having to try and find the right words. Eventually she has to go back home, to face the music with Emily. As I say goodbye to her, she asks if she could come back tomorrow. I nod, absent mindedly.

As I watch her walk away, I can hear it again. I go to turn the television on loud, to drown out the sound of my mum banging someone young enough to be her son. It's bad enough that she fucking someone who I went to school with, but I could do without having to listen to it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Naomi**

I creep inside slowly, ashamedly. I know it seems crazy, that a woman in her 20s should have to worry about being told off for having a smoke. But Emily didn't like it, and I understood that. Neither of us had smoked much at all (apart from cigarettes) for at least two years, since not long after we left college and went out separate ways from most of our friends. I knew if I spoke to her she would be able to tell straight away, so I tried to avoid her as best I could.

"Naomi?" She called after me, as I started to head upstairs.

Her voice sounded strained and weak, as if she had been crying. A wave of guilt washed over me. It wasn't fair that I'd worried her by not coming home on time yet again. All I want to do is snuggle up in bed with her, watch crap tv and fall asleep in her arms like I used to. But I can't. I have too much going on in my head. I'd just get restless and distracted, and she'd get irritated. And we would end up turning away from each other, sleeping on other sides of the bed, together but very much apart. It always goes back to being like that.

The sense of shame I felt for making her worried his was soon replaced with a feeling of defensiveness. Why should I feel bad? I had had a horrible day after losing my job, and had gone round to talk to someone I thought might understand.

Sometimes I resented her. I don't know why. Maybe because she's the one who cares about me the most, yet I can't stop myself from taking her for granted. I'm ashamed of the way I treat her, but then I feel bitter and resentful for being made to feel guilty. It's like a fucked up vicious circle. It makes me hate myself, hate her, hate everything. It's like… I want to be left alone. Just to be by myself, to curl up in a ball and shut everything out. I want to not have to speak to anyone, to not have to pretend to be okay or to explain how I feel. Just to be. But I can't, because at the same, time, I'm terrified of being by myself. Because as much as I can't bear to be around people, I can't cope with feeling trapped in my own head, suffocated by my thoughts.

I walk past the living room, just to pop my head round the door. She's curled up on the sofa.

"Ems? I'm really tired, I've had a long day at work. I'm going upstairs."

She nods slowly. I can't handle her silence. I've never been able to. If she shouted at me, I'd shout back. But she doesn't; she can't. When she goes quiet, I feel like I've really fucked things up. I can feel a knot in my stomach. I never had any intention of lying to her about where I was today, but I wanted to wait until I could drop it into the conversation, so it wouldn't seem like a big deal. But I feel like I need to say something.

Not that there is anything wrong with seeing an old friend. Emily would probably be pleased that I was getting out and seeing people. Apart from the fact that it was when I should have been at work (had I not been fired). It was more that a part of me wanted to keep my day with Effy private. I'd found her a comfort. I'd felt able to open up to her. I didn't have to put on a brave face and pretend everything was fine, because she knew instinctively that it wasn't. And when she put her hand in mine, I felt safe. I was touched by the small gesture from someone who usually seems like she couldn't care less. I just feel like there's another side to her, a softer side that she only shows to people she allows herself to get close to.

"I saw Effy today." I say, a little too cheerily.

"Oh, really?" She sounds surprised, but not unhappy.

"Yeah… I actually ended up popping round to hers. It was nice to have a catch up. "

"That's good, Nai. She should come over sometime, it'd be nice to see her."

If she feels hurt that I spent time with Effy over her, she doesn't make it obvious. I guess her mind works differently to mine though. I would have felt angry and upset if she'd been with another girl instead of coming home to me, even if the girl was just a friend. Especially if she was as stunning as Effy. But Ems has always trusted me. Even when she just had a crush on me, and I was scared to admit to myself that I felt the same. She was so patient.

Briefly, my mind wanders back to when Effy offered me a smoke. I wonder if she had anything else to help pull me out of this… bad patch. Although it's not like I can afford to pay her. But maybe if I found out where she gets it from… Who knows. I guess I'll see what I can find out tomorrow.

I head upstairs to run myself a bath before I pretend to go to sleep. As I wait for it to fill, I let my mind wander.

I step out of my clothes, dipping my feet into the hot water. It practically burns my skin off, just the way I like it. I climb in slowly, letting my body adapt to the temperature. The heat rises up past my shoulders as I slowly sink down into the tub. I feel my face flush, my hair damp already from the steam. As my hand slides under the water, I try to think of Emily. I focus on her beautiful red hair, the curves of her body, her thighs wrapped around my waist… But it's no good. I can barely even envision making love to her with the way things are between us at the moment. I don't have the energy to even sort myself out at the moment, never mind try to satisfy her too. I stop, frustrated.

I sink my head under the water, blocking out the world, feeling the warmth spread over me.

When I climb out of the bath, I feel relaxed, but hopeless.


	4. Chapter 4

Emily

 _My mind wanders back to the first time we spent the night together. It was so special. Naomi had rung me in tears asking if we could go somewhere, anywhere. Naturally, I jumped at the chance of spending time with her._

 _We went for a bike ride that evening. It was summer, and she looked so beautiful in a dress, showing off her lightly tanned skin and perfect figure. I can still feel my heart racing now when I think back to how I felt when I first started seeing her. I was mortified; as soon as I saw her I felt my face flush scarlet, my hear rate increase about ten fold. I didn't think it was possible for one person to make you feel like that, but she did. I was infatuated._

 _We cycled together gently, until we came to some woods. We camped there, after having a swim in the stream nearby and both absolutely freezing our tits off. Then we had a spliff, and just talked, held hands and laughed._

 _But the most perfect part of the night was when we got closer. To this day I don't know exactly what happened. I felt my hand in hers, sitting together in this place all of our own, and I'd never felt more complete. Then our eyes met, and the next thing I knew, we were kissing. It was slow and passionate. We didn't tear each other clothes off, didn't exactly jump on each other, but it was still breathtaking in a different way._

 _I wasn't even sure how girls made love to each other. I kind of figured they pretty much did what we do to ourselves, but more enthusiastically to each other. And other stuff, that I didn't mind imagining…_

 _As we slowly took each other's clothes off, Naomi lay down, and I kissed down her body, further than I could ever have hoped I would go. It felt so natural, so special. I knew then and there, no cock was going to cut it for me. I was a fully fledged lesbian, and I wouldn't have changed it for the world._

I wake up with a start, hearing a loud smash as I knock over and break yet another wine glass.

"For fuck's sake!" I hear my self growl in frustration.

Luckily I fell asleep with the tv on so there's at least enough light for me to avoid cutting my feet to shreds on the broken shards of glass. I sit up slowly, stretching. I think I dribbled in my sleep again because the side of the cushion on my couch feels kind of damp. Nice.

I can't stop myself from falling asleep on the sofa at the moment. Must have something to do with the glass of wine I drink every night watching the telly, it's pretty much guaranteed to make me nap. I used to fight the tiredness and drag myself upstairs to Naomi, but sometimes I wonder if she even wants to share a bed with me anymore.

I find my way to the kitchen to get the dustpan and brush, treading lightly so I don't wake Naomi up. As I clean up the mess, I can help but wish everything was fixed this easily. Are some relationships so damaged, so badly broken that they're unsalvageable? If someone had asked me a year and a half ago, I'd have said no. I'd have told them that if two people really loved each other and wanted to make it work, they could. But now, I just don't know. Maybe we'd be happier apart. We're more like distant room mates than anything else. But I can't let go of what we had.

I make my way upstairs and slip into bed next to her. She's breathing shallowly, rapidly. She isn't asleep. How she doesn't realize that I know her better than anyone and can tell when she's faking from a mile off I will never know.

"Naomi?" I whisper, gently.

"Hm?" She moans, pretending to be groggy and half asleep,

"I love you."

"You too, Em." She says as quickly as possible.

I don't try to snuggle up to her; I don't want to push things. But I have to touch her, just to feel her skin. I gently kiss her shoulder, then turn away and try to sleep.

I wake up the next day with a pounding headache. Guess the glass of wine I poured myself (that may or may not have turned into two large glasses) went to my head more than I realized.

I reach out in the bed instinctively, to see if Naomi's still asleep next to me. She isn't, of course. She'll have gone to work. I guess I should do the same, although fortunately for me, my work doesn't involve me getting dressed or leaving the house. Being an aspiring writer isn't always the most financially rewarding career, but it has its perks.

I throw my dressing gown on, getting ready to head downstairs and make a start. In my barely awakened state, I feel as if I've seen something unexpected out of the corner of my eye. Naomi's work uniform. It was where I'd last seen it: folded up neatly on the top shelf. All her others were in the basket waiting to be washed, I know for a fact.

She hasn't gone to work today, and she hasn't told me why, or what she's doing. I start to shiver in horror. Despite our recent problems, I have never once known Naomi to lie to me, or to really keep me in the dark. I suddenly feel like the floor is being pulled from beneath me. Like I don't know her at all. What isn't she telling me?

In utter confusion I sit down on the bed, holding my head in my hands. The thing that's battering my mind is that, despite all evidence to the contrary, I still believe that I can trust her.


	5. Chapter 5

Katie

"Ems?" I answer my phone in surprise. Emily never rings me. It's usually me bothering her and Naomi, dropping in on them when I've got noting better to do.

I hear a sob. Shit.

"Emily what's going on?" I say, frustrated and anxious that my sister is suffering and I don't know why. I always feel powerless when Emily doesn't tell me what's going on, like she's shutting me out.

"Can you come over please?" Emily croaks down the phone to me.

"Givemetwominutes." I gabble with pausing for breath, then quickly hang up.

I can't explain why, but I've always kind of felt like I'm responsible for her happiness. Maybe it's a twin thing, particularly because I'm technically the oldest (which I never let her forget when we were younger – even though there's only twelve minutes difference between us). It's always stressed me out when she has stuff going on that she won't explain, stuff that she won't let me help with. My way of dealing with feelings about being shut out has always come over pretty badly. The thing is, when I'm hurt and confused, I lash out and those closest to me. Ems knows that, she's got pretty used to it by now. I remember when I first suspected she was a lesbian. I couldn't handle it. Not because I hated lesbians, it was never that. Although to this day the thought of going near a minge still makes me want to vom. No, I'm not homophobic. I just don't lie it when people change, or they were never who I thought they were to begin with. I like to think that me and Ems have become close again though, now I've accepted that her and Naomi are in it together.

I let my feelings of panic about what could be wrong with Em wash over me, as I quickly shower and get dressed. Within record time, I'm on my way to hers. I cringe at the thought of anyone seeing me with so little make-up on (obviously I had time for a lick of mascara and a quick dab of concealer, a hint of blusher, etc.) and with my hair just shoved up into a frizzy ball, but some things are more important than what people think.

I make it to hers and bang on the door. They really should give me my own key again, it's not my fault I always lose it.

The thought crosses my mind briefly that maybe something has happened to Naomi. Oh God. I hope she's okay. Despite our differences in the past, I do care about her. She's made Em so happy, and well, I guess I could put up with her being a part of my family in the future. She could have had an accident… Or maybe she's the problem?

Just as I'm beginning to deeply speculate all the possibilities of what may have happened, the door opens.

Emily doesn't really say anything, just lets me in. I follow her through to the kitchen.

She slumps down into a chair, her face a blotchy mess.

"What's happened Em? Where's Naomi?"

She shakes her head, tears falling down her cheeks. I feel my heart rate increase, perspiration starting to form on my hands and feet. It's gross how sweaty I get when I'm anxious.

"Please, Ems," I say desperately. "You're scaring me."

At this, she turns her head towards me, meeting my gaze.

"She's not here, Katie."

I wait for her to explain more. When she doesn't, I prompt her.

"Where is she?"

"She said she was going to work, but her uniform's here. I think she's having an affair."

I sit down and try to give myself time to process this. My initial reaction is to assume that Emily is wrong. Naomi loves her, she's crazy about her. She did make a terrible mistake, fucking that dead girl that time. But that was it, just a mistake. She was sorry, and she told Emily the truth. They worked through it. It took Emily many months of anger, of bottling everything up then throwing it back at Naomi every time they argued, but eventually she really did forgive her. She learnt to trust her again, and their relationship had been solid. But now this… Maybe Emily hadn't got over it after all.

I open my mouth to mention this to her, then stop myself. Luckily I no longer suffer from verbal diarrhea like I used to. I don't think now would be the best time for me to basically tell my sister that she's just being jealous and paranoid and that it's all in her head. It may not be the most tactful thing to say.

I know how she must be feeling though. Its horrible feeling insecure like that, and I should know. I love Freddy to bits, and the past two years have been amazing. Particularly the past six months since we'd got engaged. But I can't shake off the feeling of fear, of bitterness, of utter hatred when I think of him fucking her. Fucking Effy.

Not that she's totally to blame, I'm not that frigging naïve. It takes two. I remember saying to Emily furiously at the time:

"She led him down the garden path!"

I knew I sounded like my mother, but I didn't care. Emily thought about it and said to me. "Yes, Effy led Freddy down the garden path. And he chose to follow her."

And since then, I've seen things from a slightly different perspective. As much as that manipulative little tramp knew exactly what she was doing, leading him on and playing up to the attention like that, I also know that Freddy was quite capable of saying no.

The past is the past, I try to tell myself. It's not that I think that he'd be stupid enough to do it again. It's just that I can't bear the humiliation of being thought of as second best.

But anyway, this isn't about me. This is about Emily, Naomi, and possibly some skank who's trying to get in the way of their happiness. I feel anger rise up inside me at the thought of someone trying to destroy what they're worked so hard at building together. Happiness and trust can take years to create and seconds to destroy. I wasn't going to let anyone destroy my family.

"Let me talk to her." I said.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Katie."

"I wasn't asking for your permission. I'll get to the bottom of it, don't worry."

"Please just don't do anything stu-"

"For Christ's sake, Ems. Trust me, okay?"

She's quiet for a minute, seeming deep in thought. She seems a bit calmer now she's got it out in the open. Although little does she realize, this is only the beginning. She's got a long way to go until she feels herself again, until she stops comparing herself to every girl Naomi talks to.

"Katie, promise me you won't tell her I've said anything. Please."

Of course I wasn't going to tell Naomi that. In fact, I haven't yet decided if I'm going to tell her anything. I'll just do some research of my own and see where that gets me.

"I won't. I'll just have a chat with her, see if I can find out what's going on. Trust me, Ems, everything will be okay in the end. And if it's not okay-"

"It's not the end." She finished my sentence for me, tearfully.


End file.
